Howdy.. I searched but couldn't find a direct answer to this question so I thought I'd ask here.

T-mobile has a network management policy, which is understandable for unlimited plans. I've read were if you use more data than the top 3% in a billing cycle you can be "de-priortized" if the local tower is congested, etc.

My question is in that 3% figure (which was/is listed as 25-26gb on T-Mo's site) does the smart phone mobile hot spot data allowance factor into that or is excluded since the tethering/hot spot data is called out separately in the plan and bill?

Say if I burn through 20gb of data a month on my smart phone streaming video and music (remember unlimited plans don't get music freedom) and then tether and download another 22gb since i'm paying extra for this data tethering bucket, this would place me over the 3% top users figure if both phone data used and hotspot data use are counted together.

Are they counted as the same or separately as far as network management/ de-prioritization is concerned.

"T-Mobile’s previous unlimited plan, which was priced at $95 per month for the first line, offered unlimited HD video as well as 14 GB of high-speed mobile hotspot usage included. However, customers of the new T-Mobile One plan will have to pay an additional $25 if they want unlimited HD videos, besides paying $15 for 5 GB of high-speed hotspot usage."

With the new plan, if you are a $70/month unlimited customer, you are limited to 2G speeds (128Kbps) for tethering. good look trying to download another 22 GB of data at that rate.

If you need to tether anything at a high speed you will need to pay an additional $15/5GB, and my guess is as long as you pay that T-Mobile will keep selling it to you.

Also HD video on your mobile is an extra $25/month for a total of $95, independent of high speed tethering charges.

thanks for being of no help whatsoever. my question concerns how data usage is calculate on the tmobile with regards to the tethering allowance that you pay extra for (and by extension if this figure is counted in the top 3% of users) on a simple choice plan that is available now.

Ok, Just trying to help, lot of talk about the new T-MobileONE plan announced last week, I assumed that was what you were questioning since you didn't specify your plan in the original post.

So if you are on a Simple Choice Unlimited Plan"

From T-Mobiles Site

"To ensure that we’re providing a great experience for our customers, customers who use more than 26GB of data in a bill cycle will have their data usage de-prioritized compared to other customers for that bill cycle at times and locations when competing network demands occur, resulting in relatively slower speeds see t-mobile.com/OpenInternet for details."

AND

"Unlimited LTE on your smartphone includes 14GB of tethering."

Since unlimited on this plan is $45 with 14 GB of tethering included, if you reach 26 GB you would be in the top 3%. from the combination of mobile and tethering no matter how you arrive at it.

In the new T-MobileONE plan (which I'm not sure you care about so you don't have to read this paragraph?) it is questionable because you aren't getting any high speed tethering included, you pay for it in increments of 5GB. So even if you reach your mobile limit of 26GB and are willing to pay for additional tethering, it wouldn't make sense to limit this to 2G because noone would purchase it at that point. So it may be that if you reach 26 GB on you mobile you are reduced to 2G on your mobile, but if you are still willing to pay for tethering in 5GB increments they will sell it to you at high speed, just speculating.

If this post is still of no help I will stop commenting on this topic.

The 26GB is not a soft cap... what that means is if you go to a tower that is congested you are depriotize. Your speeds will slow due to demand than actually throttling. When congestion subsides your speeds go back to normal.

Throttling is when you hit the cap and you slow down and no way of go back up in speed until the next cycle reset.

I think the issue in this thread was and continues to be missed. I understand the difference between prioritization and throttling. That was not the issue brought up, but instead was misinterpreted.

The issue, is that essentially with the added tethering bucket I pay for, I'm already near the 3% top users figure and would be de-prioritized on a congested tower.

The premise and underlying issue, is one of logic (or on the case of the carrier "fuzzy logic"). If i'm paying for extra (smart phone mobile hotspot) tethering data (20+gb) in conjunction with an unlimited data phone data plan it would seem logical that the extra tethering portion that I pay for separately would be counted separately towards the top 3% of users.

Again, by essentially using what I pay for, separately and with the phone data I'm basically placed in the top three percent of users... which T-mobile views as unfavorably.

Data features that may not count against the high-speed data allotment for some plans, such as certain data associated with Music Freedom, or Binge On, still counts towards all customers’ usage for this calculation. Data used for customer service applications such as the T-Mobile My Account app and the T-Mobile Tuesdays app do not count towards customers’ usage for this calculation. Smartphone Mobile HotSpot (tethering) data is also included in this calculation. Company Information | T-Mobile’s Broadband Internet Access Services (under "Network Management for Extremely High Data Usage" section)